Translation

BG 8.11: Scholars of the Vedas describe him as Imperishable; great ascetics practice the vow of celibacy and renounce worldly pleasures to enter into him. I shall now explain to you briefly the path to that goal.

Commentary

God has been referred to by many names in the Vedas. Some of them are: Sat, Avyākṛit, Prāṇ, Indra, Dev, Brahman, Paramātmā, Bhagavān, Puruṣh. In various places, while referring to the formless aspect of God, he has also been called by the name Akṣhar. The word Akṣhar means “imperishable.” The Bṛihadāraṇyak Upaniṣhad states:

“Under the mighty control of the Imperishable, the sun and the moon are held on their course.” In this verse, Shree Krishna describes the path of yog-miśhrā bhakti, to attain the formless aspect of God. The word sangraheṇa means “in brief.” He will describe the path only briefly, to avoid emphasizing it, since the path is not suitable for everyone.

On this path, one must perform severe austerities, renouncing worldly desires, practicing brahmacharya, and living a life of rigid continence. Brahmacharya is the vow of celibacy. Through it, a person’s physical energy gets conserved, and then transformed through sādhanā into spiritual energy. An aspirant who practices celibacy enhances memory power and the intellect for comprehending spiritual topics. This has been previously explained in detail in verse 6.14.